ITS Documentation
Guidelines and Registration Form
for Use of the ITS Mail Relay Service
R1454 • October 2007

ITS offers a mail relay service that will relay mail on behalf of other machines, devices, and applications that are unable to use authenticated SMTP for sending mail. This document outlines the guidelines for using that service and provides a form that departments can fill out to register their IP addresses to use the service.

NOTE: The registration form is available as a PDF file.

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About the Mail Relay Service

ITS offers a mail relay service that will relay mail on behalf of other machines, devices, and applications that require an "outbound mail server," and are unable to do authenticated SMTP—that is, that are unable to use smtp.mail.umich.edu. If your machine runs its own MTA that is capable of sending outbound mail (such as Sendmail, Postfix, qmail, Microsoft Exchange Server), you should not register to use the mail relay service.

The mail relay service is not intended for use by personal workstations or applications that support authenticated SMTP. It is also not intended for relaying unofficial, unsolicited bulk mail.

To prevent unauthorized mail from being relayed, the service will only accept mail from a list of approved, U-M IP addresses. Departments must register their U-M IP address(es) with the service in order to use it. Use must comply with Information Technology Policies at the University of Michigan.

The U-M Postmaster Team manages the mail relay service and reserves the right to block access without notice from any IP number that disrupts mail delivery or violates U-M IT policies and guidelines.

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Registration Form for the Mail Relay Service

NOTE: The registration form is available as a PDF file.

If your U-M department would like to register to use ITS's mail relay service, please print out this form, fill it in, sign it, and either fax it or send it through campus mail to:

Postmaster
ITS
Arbor Lakes Building 1, Suite 2700
Campus zip: 48105-3640

Fax: (734) 764-5140

  1. List the static U-M IP address(es) from which mail will be sent (IP addresses obtained through DHCP will not work with the service).

    Static U-M IP address(es):
     

     

  2. Provide an e-mail address for us to contact if we notice a problem with your mail. Because we can register only one address, we encourage use of a group e-mail address with more than one administrator in the group.

    Contact e-mail address: ________________________________

    This contact address is required to be a member of the directory group mailrelay.updates@umich.edu to receive notices of scheduled updates and changes to the mail relay service. (Postmaster will add group e-mail addresses, as groups cannot join themselves.) Note that all changes to the mail relay service will also be posted to the ITS Service Status Page as a matter of course.

  3. Describe the type of device or application at the IP address(es) being registered and why it is not capable of using authenticated SMTP.

    4.  

     

  4. Please sign below to verify that you have ensured that your device or server is well-protected against viruses and other such security breaches that could compromise it. This is particularly important if other applications on the machine can also send e-mail.
     

     (your name—please print)                (signature)                         (date)

     

     (your U-M unit)

Postmaster reserves the right to refuse access to the mail relay service from your IP address(es) without notice if it appears that your machine has been compromised. Postmaster may also refuse access, without notice, for misuse of the mail relay service.

If you have questions, please send e-mail to postmaster@umich.edu.

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After You Have Registered

  1. You will receive an e-mail message confirming that your IP addresses have been registered.

  2. After you receive that message, configure your newly registered machines so they use the mail relay service for sending mail. The machine name for the mail relay service is mail-relay.itd.umich.edu. You can direct the mail to Port 25.

Additional Resources

Visit ITS's Information System to obtain ITS computer documentation and other resources.

We welcome your comments; please send e-mail.

ITS's Online Help Desk provides a variety of computing help resources.

For further help with the ITS mail relay service, contact Postmaster.

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